Pets at Home bidders enter final race

FOUR buyout firms are through to the second round of the auction for Cheshire-based Pets at Home, as seller Bridgepoint weighs bids for the retailer against a possible stock market flotation, sources said. Apax Partners, Bain, KKR and TPG have all gone through to the next stage of the process, the sources said. Unsuccessful bidders included Blackstone, Charterhouse and Cinven.

FOUR buyout firms are through to the second round of the auction for Cheshire-based Pets at Home, as seller Bridgepoint weighs bids for the retailer against a possible stock market flotation, sources said.

Apax Partners, Bain, KKR and TPG have all gone through to the next stage of the process, the sources said. Unsuccessful bidders included Blackstone, Charterhouse and Cinven.

The retailer has been valued at £700m.

Bridgepoint has been running a dual-track process, working on both a float and a sale.

In October, Bridgepoint said it had hired JP Morgan Cazenove to look at a possible listing in 2010 and Rothschild as an adviser.

Bridgepoint declined to comment.

Pets at Home, which has its headquarters in Handforth, is led by chief executive Matt Davies and has grown since its creation in 1991 into a £400m-plus turnover business with 250 stores.